• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.393-403
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• 2018

In this research commercial polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was modified using $TiO_2$ nanoparticles (P-25 Degussa) and further irradiated using UV light to overcome the hydrophobicity and fouling nature of the membrane. Further the membranes were characterized using SEM and FTIR. Contact angle measurements study confirmed the hydrophilic tendency of the modified membrane by decreasing the contact angle from $73^{\circ}$ to $20.28^{\circ}$. The modified membranes showed higher flux and better anti-fouling properties as compared to the unmodified counterparts. The optimum conditions were found to be 0.5 wt% $TiO_2$ loading with 60 min membrane immersion and 10 min UV light illumination. The effect of different pH conditions of feed was analysed. Real wastewater filtration experiments also indicated better performance of modified membranes as opposed to neat PES membranes.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.166-169
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• 2004

Microfiltration membranes were prepared from aromatic polyethersulfone (PES) polymer, using aprotic solvent (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, NMP) and non-solvent additive (2-methoxy ethanol, 2-ME) by the phase inversion co-process of the vapor-induced phase inversion (VIPI) and the nonsolvent-induced phase inversion (NIPI). According to the change of the additive amount, the solvent amount and the relative humidity, membrane characterization was studied. The non-solvent additive in casting solution played an important role in membrane morphology. During the vapor-induced phase inversion, the relative humidity led to water sorption on the surface of casting dope at which pore formation was generated. The prepared membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscope observations, measurements of capillary flow porometer and pure water flux (PWP). Also the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of membrane-forming system were studied through coagulation value, light transmittance and viscosity.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.323-337
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• 2015

Membrane Fouling was considered as major drawback in various industrial applications. Thus, this paper reviews the surface modification of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes for antifouling performance. Various modification techniques clearly indicate that hydrophilicity has to improve on the PES membrane surface. Moreover, the mechanism of fouling reduction with corresponds to various modification methods is widely discussed. Incorporation of hydrophilic functional groups on PES membrane surface enhances the surface free energy thereby which reduces the fouling. Characterization techniques adopted for the surface modified membranes was also discussed. These studies might be useful for the other researchers to utilize the modification technique for the applications of waste water treatment, chemical process industry and food industry.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.86-89
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.51-54
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• 2001

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.120-126
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• 2010

In this study, the effect of surface deposition of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles at polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltraiton (MF) membrane on humic acid fouling was investigated. The effect was observed as a function of crystal structures of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles and solution chemistries including pH and divalent cation such as calcium. Our results showed clearly that $TiO_2$-deposited membrane could mitigate membrane fouling significantly. However, this effect was observed to be dependent upon crystal structures of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles and solution chemistries. In the absence of calcium, fouling mitigation was less pronounced for both anatase and hybrid $TiO_2$-deposited membrane than for rutile $TiO_2$-deposited membrane while opposite trend was observed after addition of calcium. In the presence of calcium, the adsorption of humic acid to $TiO_2$-deposited membrane can be reduced by electrostatic repulsions between humic acid and $TiO_2$ surface. Addition of calcium provided further beneficial effect on fouling mitigation particularly at higher pH for the anatase $TiO_2$ deposited membrane, implying that both increased hydrophilicity due to $TiO_2$ nanoparticles and negative surface charge of the membrane should affect fouling mitigation. However, rutile $TiO_2$ having more inertness generally than the anatase $TiO_2$ showed relatively robust effect on the fouling mitigation regardless of solution properties.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 2014

Polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were modified by various physico-chemical modification methods to enhance the surface hydrophilicity for application as a separation membrane to separate and collect water vapor from the flue gas. Homogeneous PES flat-sheet membranes were prepared and modified by acid treatment, blending and plasma treatment for hydrophilic surface modification. The surface characteristics of the modified PES membranes were evaluated by ATR-FTIR, XPS, SEM and contact angle measurements. No significant change in hydrophilicity was observed for the PES membranes modified by acid treatment with sulfuric acid or blending with various compositions of poloxamer as an amphiphilic PEO-PPO-PEO tri-block copolymer. On the other hand, Ar plasma treatment led to a significant increase in the hydrophilicity of the surface, depending on the plasma treatment time. As a result, the PES membrane could be the most efficiently surface-treated by applying the plasma treatment for enhancing their surface hydrophilicity.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2023

Composite membranes consisting of TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) and porous polymers have been widely utilized in photocatalytic water treatment because the composite membranes can allow an easy recovery of NPs after the photocatalytic reaction as well as the reduction of fouling in the membrane. However, the photocatalytic efficiency of the immobilized TiO₂ NPs in the composite membranes has been discussed to a limited degree. In this study, we prepared polyethersulfone (PES)/TiO₂ composite membranes to study the photocatalytic decomposition of organic dyes under light illumination. The decomposition kinetics of dye molecules by the PES/TiO₂ composite membranes and colloidal TiO₂ NPs have been compared to discuss the photocatalytic efficiency of NPs before and after their immobilization on the polymer membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.273-283
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• 2017

Polysulfone (PSF) is one of an important polymer that has been widely used in the manufacture of asymmetric microfiltration (MF) membranes. PSF membrane is considered as hydrophobic membrane that easily fouled during membrane operation process. The blending method is an effective method for improving the fouling resistance of PSF membranes. sPES (sulfonated polyethersulfone) is one of the useful polymers that can be used in PSF polymer blend method to improve hydrophilicity of PSF membranes. In this study, microfiltration polymer membranes were prepared by using PSF/sPES/PVP/BE/DMF casting solution and water coagulant. The morphology of MF membranes was changed by addition of a small amount of sPES in casting solution. The morphology of the sPES added membranes was changed into a highly asymmetric structure. The active layer grew and mean pore size was decreased by addition of sPES. However, the water flux of PSF/sPES/DMF/PVP/BE membrane was higher than that of PSF/DMF/PVP/BE membrane.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.25-37
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• 2011

PES UF membranes containing silver were prepared to impart antibacterial properties for waste water treatment. Asymmetric membranes for antibacterial application were prepared from polyethersulfone (PES) and silver nitrate ($AgNO_3$) (PES/$AgNO_3$=15/2 by weight) solution in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) via simple wet phase inversion technique. These membranes were characterized by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different molecular weights (1000 ppm in water) at room temperature and on operating pressure of 5 bars. It was observed that the water flux of PES-$AgNO_3$ membrane is slightly lower than virgin PES but still increased linearly with the increment of pressure applied. The morphology of the resulting membranes was examined using Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Elemental analysis using EDS proved that silver is successfully loaded on the membrane surfaces. Due to the success of loading silver on membrane surfaces, antibacterial activities were evaluated via agar diffusion method against Escherichia coli (E.coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) culture. By incorporating 2 wt% of silver nitrate, PES-$AgNO_3$ showed significant inhibition ring on both E.coli and S.aureus. Filtration of E.coli solution (OD 0.31) showed satisfactory rejection data with ~100% inhibition growth after 24 hours incubation at $37^{\circ}C$. Resultant membranes also exhibit better tensile strength (compared to virgin PES) up to 71% may be due to the suggested interactions. The residual silver during fabrication was measured using ICP-MS and result showed that the residual silver content of PES-$AgNO_3$ membrane was only ~1% of the original silver added in the polymer solution. These studies have shown that PES-$AgNO_3$ UF membranes are potential in improving the filtration in water treatment.